Simone Wilson-Brito | McCarter & English, LLP

Simone helps clients cut through challenges to close on complex commercial real estate transactions.

Co-chair of the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group, Simone Wilson-Brito represents clients in all aspects of commercial real estate financing, leasing, acquisitions, and sales. Simone represents landlords and tenants in drafting and negotiating office leases, lenders and borrowers in commercial loan transactions—including helping lenders finance non-traditional loans involving the construction of hydroponic green houses and the refinancing of loans involving taxi-medallions as collateral—and purchasers and sellers in acquiring and disposing of commercial real estate.

Prior to rejoining McCarter & English, Simone was real estate counsel for The Rockefeller Group Development Corporation, where she gained valuable experience in understanding the business considerations that fuel real estate transactions. Simone negotiated construction-related agreements and worked closely with construction professionals to oversee the administration of construction contracts involving the delivery of build-to-suit warehouses. During her tenure with the company, she negotiated leases, building contracts, licenses and other transaction documents supporting the company’s development, management, and ownership operations in New York, Florida, South Carolina, and New Jersey.

Simone is co-chair of McCarter’s Women’s Initiative. She is also a member of McCarter’s Culture & Inclusion Committee. Her involvement in the Newark community includes serving as a member of the Board of Trustees of the YMCA of Newark and Vicinity.

Represented the special servicer in negotiating and documenting loan workouts involving a portfolio of properties totaling approximately $173 million in defaulted loans. The workout involved the negotiation of maturity extension terms, restricting the use of excess cash flow for each property, and trapping excess funds as security for the repayment of all the loans. The loans were secured by 17 properties.

Represented the primary/special servicer in a five-property deed-in-lieu transaction for defaulted loans in the approximate amount of $10.3 million, secured by properties located in the tri-state area. The transaction included negotiating the deed in lieu agreements, drafting conveyance documents, and conducting property due diligence to ensure the seamless transfer of the properties and property operations to the holder of the respective loans.

Closed on a $1.4 million acquisition of approximately two acres of partially developed land located along the Quinnipiac River waterfront, which is planned to be developed into a mixed-use, multifamily residential and commercial/retail development that includes approximately 50 units of a mix of affordable and market rate housing.

Represented a national bank in negotiating financing for multifamily housing projects, including (1) a $30 million construction and term loan for a project in Connecticut, (2) a $75 million syndicated loan for a multifamily and retail property in Massachusetts, and (3) a $120 million combined loan increase and conversion of a construction loan to a term loan for a project in New Jersey.

Represented a national bank in negotiating a $25 million line of credit to construction the first phase of a transit center development in New Jersey.

Negotiated several leases for a shared workspace leasing company of more than 100,000 aggregate square feet for purposes of subleasing to mid-sized company tenants in the New York office space marketplace.

Represented a major national real estate developer in acquiring a 30-acre parcel of land in New Jersey to be developed as a single-user industrial park.

Represented a national bank in negotiating the modification of several loans with approximately 38 related borrowers secured by New York and Chicago taxi medallions and New York commercial property mortgages. Also represented the bank in negotiating the modification of a five-year, $74 million loan, which was secured by two New York properties and taxi medallions.

Represented a major national real estate developer in its sale of a build-to-suit, 197,000-square-foot building occupied by a global transport and logistics company to a property trust company for nearly $38 million.

Represented a property management company in like-kind exchange acquisitions of 5 restaurants and retail stores in Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas.

Represented a major national real estate developer in negotiating leases of two built-to-suit industrial buildings within a planned 2.1 million-square-foot industrial park in New Jersey, which included a 725,000-square-foot distribution center leased to a major national electronics retailer, and in handling the later sales of the buildings. Secured a construction loan for the construction of the distribution center.

Represented Eurofins Discovery on its acquisition of DiscoveryBioMed.

Represented GE Appliances on a transaction with Midwest Sales and Service.